Elfyn Evans won Rally Japan for the third time in four years on Sunday, leading a 1-2-3-4 finish for the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team on home roads.
Sébastien Ogier and Pajari joined Evans on the podium with local hero Takamato Katsuta completing the top four.
It is the fourth consecutive win for the GR Yaris Rally1 car from five editions of the rally held in Toyota City.
Elfyn Evans said after his win, ““It’s a great feeling to be able to win Rally Japan again and be part of another very good result here for our team. I have to say a huge thanks to everyone in the team for giving us such an amazing car again, and thank you to Morizo-san: I’m very happy to secure this win as a token of appreciation for his support.
“It’s been a tight and fun battle all the way through with some pressure from our team-mates. We were able to make a good start to the rally and take advantage of our position to make some good times on Friday and then we managed to maintain that until the end. It’s been an enjoyable last dance with these cars on asphalt and I’m really happy to end it with a win.”
This year, with a move forward from November to late May, the event was held in warmer temperatures which exceeded 30 degrees centigrade and provided a different challenge for the crews, their cars and their tyres.
On the narrow and twisting roads through forests in the mountains of the Aichi and Gifu prefectures, Evans excelled once again, especially in Friday’s infamous Isegami’s Tunnel stage where he made the most of his position at the front of the road order to build an early lead.
Pursued over the following days by their team-mates, Evans and co-driver Scott Martin managed the rally expertly on their way to securing victory. As well as his 13th win, the result is Evans’ 50th career WRC podium and increases his championship lead to 20 points at the midway point of the season.
Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais, who won Rally Japan in 2025, had to settle for second place, finishing 12.8s behind Evans and Martin after a typically battling performance.
Rising young star Pajari and his co-driver Marko Salminen scored their fifth podium finish in the last six rallies, and their sixth top-three finish since achieving their first at last year’s Rally Japan six months ago.
Katsuta received a hero’s welcome home from the Japanese rally fans after taking his first WRC victories in Kenya and Croatia earlier this year. He lost some ground when he sustained tyre damage on Friday morning but recovered well alongside co-driver Aaron Johnston, taking a stage win on the final day and finishing second in the Power Stage and the Super Sunday classification.
On his first Rally Japan at the wheel of Rally1 machinery, Oliver Solberg was also in the fight for victory until he slid wide in a muddy corner on Saturday afternoon and damaged his rear suspension. Restarting on the final day, he won three of the six stages including the rally-ending Power Stage as well as the Super Sunday classification.
With the Power Stage win, the GR Yaris Rally1 has now achieved 50 consecutive stage wins on asphalt across its last three WRC rallies on the surface. It also means TGR-WRT have increased their manufacturers’ championship lead to 127 points.
TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Yuki Yamamoto secured his goal on his home event of a maiden podium finish in the WRC2 category after a strong and well-managed drive at the wheel of his GR Yaris Rally2 car, guided by co-driver James Fulton. Fellow GR Yaris Rally2 driver Alejandro Cachón was involved in a thrilling battle to repeat his 2025 WRC2 victory throughout the weekend, ultimately finishing a close second.
